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Posted Tuesday, August 28, 2012

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Author
Topic: symptoms and signs tranmission? (Read 5103 times)

well hello all ive been googling symptoms and signs of hiv and found this site which i think is awesome. so my possible exposure was a needle stick at a rave which took place on the 26th and 27th. it was a 2 day event which i took drugs on the 2nd day of it, i just took ecstasy and smoked marijuana. i know it might sound funny because ive been reading a lot on this website and it seems the main way of transmission is through sex and i haven't had sex in over a year. i just recently turned 18 too. Also am gonna practice safer sex if i ever do have it again after reading so much because in my past with my ex gf i used condoms off and on. so on with my symptoms on 07/11 my toes started to itch really bad and i had a rash which i thought were bug bites at the time and i played it off as it and let it be and it disappeared after a week. following this on the 18th i lost my appetite, had headaches, ,joint pain, diarrhea, felt tired and weak to the point where i would sit down and fall asleep again, tingling feeling throughout my body, and sometimes felt like i couldn't concentrate on things with my eyes, and my spine felt kinda weird. also my toes began to shed and my right foot second toe has a blister. so on the 07/20 i went to parent power hood to get tested and it came back negative but at the time i didn't know it was too short a time to be accurate. after a week some of the symptoms lightened up and i got back my hunger, joint paint gone, my poop was solid again but green sometimes could be from my choices of bad food, headaches were gone, didn't feel tired and weak anymore. on 07/30 i went to the doctors and he said i had a virus, so i went to the lab to get blood drawn on 08/04. so that's it tell me what you guys think ill keep you updated soon as i get the results please and thank you.

It's not absolutely clear whether you shared needles for your drug use. But I can tell you there is nothing HIV specific about any of your symptoms. Still, if there's any doubt about having shared needles then definitely getting tested is in order. You can get a conclusive result at 13 weeks. If you test negative 6 weeks the likelihood is that you will continue to test negative.

Discuss your symptoms with your doctor. I don't see them as being about HIV but other STDs and such are much easier to acquire than HIV.

And using a condom everytime for vaginal and anal intercourse is the way to protect yourself sexually. It's just that simple.

oh am sorry for the vague description of my exposure by needle stick i meant someone intentionally stabbing me with a syringe. the drugs i took were pill form and the marijuana i smoked through a pipe. its a common story/talk/legend of raves being poked/stabbed with a syringe.

oh am sorry for the vague description of my exposure by needle stick i meant someone intentionally stabbing me with a syringe. the drugs i took were pill form and the marijuana i smoked through a pipe. its a common story/talk/legend of raves being poked/stabbed with a syringe.

Yes, we're familiar with this particular rave related myth. It's crap. Even if you were poked with something pointy at a rave it wouldn't constitute a risk for HIV infection.

Please take the time to read our Welcome Thread and follow the links to our lessons on HIV transmission.

Yes i have, I guess that hiv spreading through needle sticks at raves is too harsh a condition for it to survive long enough for someone to stab me with thank you for your input. am still going to keep my results update till my 13 week test if that's fine with u guys

hey so my blood results came back but they said i didn't have enough virus's or something. Which in turn he says i need a hepatitis shot, am not too sure if they checked for everything with a blood test? you must be thinking why i think this well i hadn't directly said i was looking for hiv so yea. also my doctor is really asian so there's a language barrier so am not quite whats going on because he doesn't explain it that well just like how he said i didn't have enough virus's. am not quite sure if they looked for everything so my question is if i were to take a rapid test right now where could i acquire one and which one would be the most accurate at about 7 weeks past exposure.please and thank you.

hi so i just got the whole virus thing explained, he said i didn't have enough antibodies for hepatitis b. So i just got a shot and in 3 months he said to come back and recheck my blood to see if the antibodies increase and if not get another one. he didn't say what virus i had or how i could've gotten sick even though he said i did have a virus but he isn't or doesn't know what it could've been so my question is could they have mistook it for HIV because i don't understand how i don't have enough antibodies for hepatitis b and if i don't have enough antibodies is it just for hepatitis b or in general for everything. also where can i get a rapid test from i live in California. please and thank you

Call any AIDS Service Organization in your area or the health department. They will be able to direct you to where you can get tested. For you getting tested is strictly for your peace of mind since based on what you have reported I don't see that you actually had a risk for HIV.

It is not unusual for a person to not have enough antibodies for hep B. Hep B is vastly different to hiv and one has absolutely NO bearing on the other. You can get vaccinated against hep B and the vaccine has to bring your antibody levels up to a point where you will not become infected with hep B.

You don't have hiv because you never had a risk for hiv. The whole needle-stick-at-a-rave thing is nothing more than an urban myth. So stop worrying about it.

You need to be using condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, every time, no exceptions until such time as you are in a securely monogamous relationship where you have both tested for ALL sexually transmitted infections together.

To agree to have unprotected intercourse is to consent to the possibility of being infected with an STI. Sex without a condom lasts only a matter of minutes, but hiv is forever.

Have a look through the condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms with confidence.

Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

hey so i just wanted to keep you updated my 13 week is closing in and only feeling a stomach that gets upset real easy ,which in turn causes me to get the runs. it feels swollen under my chin near the top of my throat ,and i keep getting alot of small canker sores that go away fast though oh ya and for some my lips are always chapped now but i guess it doesn't matter based on symptoms so am gonna go get a test this weekend wish me luck. Also i was wondering which test i should be looking for that's most accurate ?

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

While you are at it, be sure to take a pregnancy test. You are at equal risk for that.

Logged

"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

lol, sorry i must be a nuisance i try not to use the forums as much as i can just its getting near the 13 week mark and yea still feeling alittle weird never had a sickness like this before.also getting alittle paranoid too,its just the fact my doctor can't seem to find out what virus it is or was.

If you are FEELING symptoms, what you are feeling is NOT HIV itself, but your body's REACTION to HIV. Which would necessitate the production of antibodies, therefore the rash, the tummy stuff, and other things. THAT is your body's effort to rid itself of HIV. It is an IMMUNE response, which cannot happen if no antibodies are present.

Case in point, and please bear with me.

I did not take my meds with any regularity for a few years. They made me feel bad. I ended up with 12 CD4 cells (you are supposed to have from 500-1500). So I had no real immune system to speak of. I did not feel sick, really. Just tired all the time.

Apparently I had many infections raging through my body, one of them being a very dangerous, potentially lethal respiratory infection. I never showed symptoms, I just got these weird hot flash fevers from time to time.

Then a sudden glimmer of self protection got into my head, and I started taking pills again for my HIV, Which, in turn re-activated my dormant (well, exhausted) immune system. That immune system started giving me signs it was working. Mainly by filling my body with high fevers (which the body does to try and kill pathogens) and filling my lungs with fluid (which the body does, trying to rid itself of pneumonia).

I ended up in a hospital for almost two weeks. Got seriously ill. Was it the pathogens, the infections that had run rampant through my body while I ignored them? Yep.

But was it also my body's reaction to those pathogens? Absolutely.

If the symptoms you are feeling WERE HIV, then it stands to reason that your body had A) recognized you had HIV and B) mounted an immune response to it.

You would likely register positive on an HIV test, because it is those antibodies that make you feel unwell.

You are not a nuisance. But you do not have HIV.

PLEASE use this same awful internet that gives such rotten misinformation to learn HOW the body works, how you respond to things, and why things do what they do. If you aren't a science geek like me, try Webmd.com - they might err on the side of crazy caution, but at least you can get a handle on why your body is doing what it's doing.

I hope you find an answer to your problems, I really do. I just do not think it lies here.

Logged

"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

Get on with your life and make sure that anyone you are with in the future is always wearing a condom for vaginal or anal intercourse. That way you will be well protected against the sexual transmission of HIV.

hey back sorry just got a something that's been bothering me a lot lately and here it is. I was wondering if taking 100MG cap of the tetracycline(doxycycline) which is for acne would've affected the results of my tests. Also if the inital symptoms disappear completely as the site said it should take two weeks or would it still be noticeable still after a couple months an example being the lymph nodes under the chin feeling swollen still or feces being somewhat solid but at the same time looking displaced still. i know that symptoms aren't a factor in the equation but recently they've been coming back again with new ones as well one being my saliva feels very weird and bubbly and foamy and arm pits feeling off i don't know how i would describe the feeling. please and thank you.

Are you still worrying about this imaginary needle stick at a rave? Give me a break.

No, aside from chemotherapy for cancer or anti-rejection drugs following organ transplant, there are no meds that will affect an hiv antibody test.

If you feel unwell, see a doctor. It's nothing to do with hiv. You do not have hiv.

Here's what you need to know in order to remain hiv negative:

You need to be using condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, every time, no exceptions until such time as you are in a securely monogamous relationship where you have both tested for ALL sexually transmitted infections together.

To agree to have unprotected intercourse is to consent to the possibility of being infected with an STI. Sex without a condom lasts only a matter of minutes, but hiv is forever.

Have a look through the condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms with confidence.

Anyone who is sexually active should be having a full sexual health care check-up, including but not limited to hiv testing, at least once a year and more often if unprotected intercourse occurs.

If you aren't already having regular, routine check-ups, now is the time to start. As long as you make sure condoms are being used for intercourse, you can fully expect your routine hiv tests to return with negative results.

Don't forget to always get checked for all the other sexually transmitted infections as well, because they are MUCH easier to transmit than hiv.

Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts